The digital information management system, which government introduced; has earned praises amongst the agriculture landscape as farmers feel its promoting sustainable agriculture operations and enhancing profitability.
The digital hub dubbed, the National Agriculture Information Management System (NAMIS), provides information on suitable agriculture practices to farmers as means for improving agriculture productivity and promoting food security.
Developed with support of a team at the University of Malawi, the innovation also features custom applications that assist the Malawi government to deliver early warnings about weather events to farmers.
Among other weather forecasts, data generated in the system is utilized to analyze statistics on rainfall, temperature, humidity and wind dynamics which are shared as reports for specific periods like the five day, weekly and seasonal weather forecasts.
The digital platform is being implemented at a time Malawis economy is largely driven by the agriculture sector which accounts for about 30% of the countrys GDP and up to 80% of its exports.
This is reflected in the National Agriculture Policy which states that “Agriculture remains the mainstay of Malawis economy, contributing significantly to employment, economic growth, export earnings, poverty reduction, food security, and nutrition.”
Samuel Muwalo, a maize farmer from Mzimba district, northern Malawi, says the weather warnings delivered to the farmers were helpful in improving their operations hence maximizing their productivity.
“The information provided helps farmers like myself to plan on when to take necessary actions, like planting as well as when to start irrigation farming “Muwalo said.
Another farmer, Chimwemwe Msowoya, from Chikwawa district, southern Malawi, observes the initiative was empowering farmers and agriculture extension workers with knowledge on drought resistant seeds.
“Agriculture extension workers use the information on the digital hub to advise us on what type of crops to plant depending on the weather, this ensures that we remain productive even in times of adverse weather conditions,” Msowoya explained.
Also at a time, Oxfam reports that more than half of the total irrigated areas in Malawi are utilized by small-scale farmers whose livelihoods were severely affected by the 2019 floods that damaged irrigation infrastructure, the NAMIS was proving useful in assessing the food situation of vulnerable households.
This is because using the platform, authorities assess food situations for individual households which are evaluated alongside projected production estimates of staple foods to facilitate effective food security planning in the country.
For Leonard Chimwaza, an agriculture expert the system was important in enhancing food security among vulnerable communities considering that over 150,000 households are already registered in the system.
“The system is a game changer because the ministry of agriculture is able to measure the impact of disasters on agriculture and food security from the national scale down to the level of the individual farm” Chimwaza said.
To promote greater adoption of best agricultural practices, the ministry of agriculture is also utilizing the digital platform to train farmers on technologies with great potential to increase their yields and improve quality of crops.
Alinafe Masiye, a farmer from Chikwawa district, southern Malawi says this was providing her the opportunity to share ideas with other farmers on best technology innovations to adopt to maximize on production.
“We receive extensive training in the specific agriculture practices being promoted by various stakeholders to boost productivity and improve efficiency, this practice strengthens agricultural extension, support services and research including improved crop trials and new technology adoptions” Masiye said.
Furthermore, the NASIM is also being used to conduct a large number of surveys for different development planning programs and to speed up the process of enrolling individual households into these programs, a custom application was developed.
According to Tamani Nkhono, a food security scholar; such studies were useful in developing agriculture programs which effectively address the needs of farmers.
“For agriculture programs to achieve their desired goals, they have to address the needs of farmers, this system allows authorities to assess needs of induvial farmers and households in promoting food security, so this means agriculture programs being developed target relevant needs “Nkhono said.
In addition, the digital platform includes a market information component, to promote local market integration for farmers, and a livestock information management tool.
According to Malikebu Msowoya, Chairperson for Tigwilizane Farmers Club in Chikwawa District, the market integration component of NASIM was key in assisting farmers to identify markets for their commodities.
Malawi is one of Africas most susceptible countries to climate change, and agriculture in the country is often adversely affected by climate-related stressors such as droughts, floods, erratic rainfall and dry spells.
Between 2018 and 2019, Malawi suffered crippling dry spells and damaging floods in different parts of the country resulting in a 15% decline in food production, official records indicate.
These climate events, in addition to other socio-economic factors, are important to food security planning in Malawi, hence the need for reliable data-backed decision support systems.
With the National Agriculture Management Information System proving effective in providing early warning on relevant weather and climate events and assessment of food security situations both for individual households; one can only agree this is truly the long awaited game-changer.
